Aardman Ventures Into Distribution

Thursday, May 18, 2006
By: Ryan Ball

Aardman Animations, the toon studio behind the Academy Award-winning Wallace & Gromit short films and feature, is making its foray into distribution with the formation of Aardman International. The dedicated sales arm will be headed by Aardman’s head of broadcast and development, Miles Bullough, who is looking for someone to fill the head of sales position.

According to Bullough, Aardman has 60 half hours of television programming in production this year. Among the projects set to launch soon is the new stop-motion series Shaun the Sheep, a spin-off of the Wallace & Gromit short A Close Shave. Bullough goes on to say that the time is right for Aardman to take its growing catalog directly to the international market. The company will handle its own U.K. and worldwide distribution, and will look for a limited number of third-party properties to sell along with its in-house productions.

Aardman will maintain its various partnerships, including its co-production and distribution agreement with Decode Ent. for the series Planet Sketch and Chop Socky Chooks. Its own projects, however, will be completely handled by Aardman International starting with its debut at this year’s MIPCOM market in Cannes.

In addition to Shaun the Sheep for CBBC, Aardman is producing The Flowerheads for CBeebies, Angry Kid for BBC3, Rex the Runt and A Town Called Panic, which recently sold to ABC TV Australia, Nicktoons U.S. and Nickelodeon U.K. Other noteworthy television productions include the award-winning Creature Comforts series for ITV1 and an American version of the show that will air on major U.S. network CBS.

Based in Bristol, U.K., Aardman is founded and run by Peter Lord and David Sproxton. The company has a five-picture deal in place with DreamWorks Animation, which released the clay-animated favorites Chicken Run and Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit. Their latest collaboration, a rat adventure/comedy titled Flushed Away, will be released in theaters on Nov. 3.

Reader Comments

• Jason Zabady : Sales&marketing : neon asapargus films

  Thursday, May 18, 2006

  I've been a fan for years.I would be interested in interviewing for the head of sales position.
  
  hzabady@comcast.net

• Ale :

  Monday, May 22, 2006

  Yeah! Stopmo will never die!
  
  http://alestopmotion.blogspot.com

• Anuj Singhal : 3d animator & artist : Shark Design Studio

  Monday, May 22, 2006

  Hi,
  I'm very glad to know so much about Aardman studio and the people connected to aardman, i need to know more about aardman like does it has some connection with university of west of england and do offer students to work under aardman...
  
  I'm asking this because this year, I'm planning to study at this university as it is also in bristol,so does it has some connection with aadman.
  
  I will be very glad if u can respond to my Quires.
  
  Thanking U,
  Anuj SInghal
  anujmation@gmail.com